Proverbs
Robert Ellis
TLP Editions
Published by PhotoIreland Foundation
English
Softcover
36 pages
148 x 210 mm.
2017
No ISBN
Proverbs is an ongoing body of work using photographic images and audio recordings that engage with the contemporary landscape of Uganda, exploring its layers of memory.
While the age-old Ugandan proverbs exist as a form of concentrated wisdoms based on experience, the work does not attempt to merely portray these. Rather, it seeks to create a platform that might allow them to be re-imagined. Wandering through this unfamiliar landscape, Robert Ellis’ photographs linger on the people and its landforms.
Fluid in approach, there are no fixed stories to tell or conclusive outcomes to communicate. An overarching narrative considers how place is experienced, in terms of its aesthetic values, and for the layers of memory and history that it holds.
About the Artist
Robert Ellis is an Irish photographer who completed his MFA in Photography from the University of Ulster in Belfast (2011), having previously graduated with a BA Hons Degree in Photography from Dublin Institute of Photography (2007).
His photography deals with the notion of “home”, working with small rural communities, often relying on inherent or local knowledge to inform a sense of place.
Recent solo shows include Belfast Exposed Gallery and Peckham 24 as part of Photo London. He was invited as an emerging European photographer to participate in Plat(t) form 2014 at the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. In 2014, he was commissioned by Curator Valerie Connor for Golden Mountain, TULCA Visual Arts Festival. His work was featured in New Irish Works as part of PhotoIreland Festival 2013, including the publication of the same name.
During 2013, he began working at the Nagenda International Academy of Art & Design in Uganda, where he currently is a visiting lecturer and Artist in Residence.
About the Publisher
PhotoIreland Foundation is a volunteer led organisation dedicated to stimulating a critical dialogue around Photography in Ireland, and to promoting internationally the work of artists in and from Ireland. PhotoIreland is committed to the cultivation of a deeper and critical understanding of Photography. In 2010, PhotoIreland launched Ireland’s first international festival of Photography & Image Culture: PhotoIreland Festival. It celebrated Ireland’s first Book & Magazine Fair in 2011, dedicated to Photography, which was the germ of The Library Project, a unique public resource library focused on the photobook opened in 2013.
